Exactly, IMHO. (Gaming)

by narcogen , Andover, Massachusetts, Friday, March 11, 2016, 12:07 (2976 days ago) @ Kermit

In fairness, some never seem to understand how arrogant they come across when they present their opinions in exactly the same manner as they would present facts.

Exactly.

"I did not like Game X" is an opinion. One can also be specific about why if one wishes to share with others, as outside of opinion polls, the bare expression of like or dislike might not be terribly useful to other people. Why you dislike (or like) a thing can be very helpful to know and even entertaining in itself to find out!

"Game X is not a good game" has the appearance of an assertion of fact, usually added intentionally to add weight or credibility to an expression of personal preference by appealing to the language of objective evaluation. Adding "in my opinion" is doublespeak designed to circumvent criticism from those who challenge the statement of fact, quickly diverting the discussion into endless recursive cycles of "I'm entitled to my opinion, and you're just oversensitive" rather than evaluating the initial statement.

I used to love the old Siskel & Ebert show on PBS. I liked the structure, I liked the simple upvote/downvote binary of it. I liked the fact that despite being published professional critics who had extremely strong opinions about things, they always started things off with asking each other if they liked the film, and why or why not. After that initial point the rhetoric ramped up, but the structure was never really designed to give the impression that they were evaluating on any kind of an objective scale-- it was really whether they liked the film or not, and if they would suggest other people should watch it-- usually with caveats based on content and genre.

If you like good writing and voice acting and are OK with a walking simulator with no combat or puzzles-- indeed, no real gameplay at all other than dialogue trees-- trees that mostly affect how your character reacts to what happens, rather than what actually happens-- if having a small story executed well sounds like an enjoyable experience to you, then Firewatch may be your cup of tea.

If you want player choice to affect the broad scope of a story, like those old choose-your-own-adventure books where anything can happen as a result of any choice, then Firewatch won't give you that.

If you want something to challenge your mental faculties or your hand/eye coordination, Firewatch won't give you that.

If you disliked the ending of Mass Effect 3, Firewatch will pee in your cereal and give you cancer.